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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Move to Amend Supreme Court Ruling on Citizens United

"We the corporations"On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government. Human beings are people; corporations are legal fictions.

We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United, and move to amend our Constitution to: * Firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.

* Guarantee the right to vote and to participate, and to have our vote and participation count.

* Protect local communities, their economies, and democracies against illegitimate "preemption" actions by global, national, and state governments.

The Supreme Court is misguided in principle, and wrong on the law. In a democracy, the people rule. We Move to Amend

EventsDemocracy Convention 2011 Wed, 08/24/2011 - 9:00am - Sun, 08/28/2011 - 5:00pm NewsKETCHAM: Vermont Is Gearing Up to Strike a Major Blow to Corporate Personhood Sat, 01/22/2011 HIGHTOWER: 8 Ways We're Making America a Better Place Sun, 01/02/2011 THE NATION: Move to Amend is "Top Idea of 2010" Thu, 12/30/2010 more Take ActionLocal actions on January 21st: First Anniversary of Citizens United Decision Throw some light on election spending - call your Senators today! Stop BP’s Corporate Abuse more Publications & TalksALLISON and ALLISON: The Climate of Corporate Personhood Tue, 01/11/2011 HEDGES: Do Not Pity the Democrats Mon, 09/13/2010 DIXON: What If BP Were A Human Being? Wed, 05/05/2010 more Organizing ResourcesNot All Responses to Citizens United Are the Same Organize Your Town to Pass a Resolution to Legalize Democracy and Abolish Corporate Personhood Organizing for Local Action Toolkit more

A year ago today, the Supreme Court issued its bizarre Citizens United decision, allowing unlimited corporate spending in elections as a form of “free speech” for the corporate “person.” Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the dissent, had the task of recalling the majority to planet earth and basic common sense.http://movetoamend.org/ Read moreGeneralAmending the ConstitutionVermontHIGHTOWER: 8 Ways We're Making America a Better Place Sun, 01/02/2011 By: Jim Hightower Alternet Jim Hightower has included Move To Amend in his list, "8 Ways We're Making America a Better Place -- in Spite of the Disasters Coming out of Washington."

Describing the Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United case as a "constitutional coup," Hightower goes on to celebrate the efforts of "Ordinary people, who usually pay little attention to arcane court decisions, [who] grasped the import of this one from the moment it was issued, and 80 percent oppose it (including 76 percent of Republicans)." He describes Move To Amend, along with efforts to win public financing of campaigns, as "two important, though little reported, uprisings across the country."

Read moreGeneralAmending the ConstitutionTHE NATION: Move to Amend is "Top Idea of 2010" Thu, 12/30/2010 By: John Nichols The Nation The year 2010 will not be remembered as a halcyon year for progressives. But in such years the truest believers and battlers stand out all the more clearly, and patterns are set for the victories of the years to come. Here, then, are the Most Valuable Progressives of 2010:

Read moreGeneralAmending the ConstitutionTake ActionCommemorate Constitution Day: Friday, September 17 Celebrate We the People • Condemn We the Corporations • Connect to Move to Amend

The US Constitution says “We the People,” not “We the Corporations.” Nowhere in the Constitution are corporations even mentioned—let alone protected and anointed with human rights to do virtually what they want, where they want, whenever they want politically, economically, socially or environmentally.

Constitution Day, September 17, is a terrific opportunity to take this message to your school, your neighborhood, city or town, or your elected officials. Start now to do something – educate, advocate or organize—on that date to say and proclaim that constitutional rights belong to human beings, not corporations.

Read moreAmending the ConstitutionCitizens United v. FECIllinoisCOMING YOUR WAY: The March of the Monahans On May 16, democracy activists Laird and Robin Monahan dipped hands and feet in the Pacific, and set out on foot from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Their goals: reach the Lincoln Memorial in Washington by mid October, and, most importantly, build grassroots awareness of the need to amend the Constitution to end corporate personhood along the way.

From: MovetoAmend.org What's happening: Laird and Robin, who are both in their sixties, plan is to walk every day, weather and health permitting, camping along the way, and taking opportunities to connect with local groups, local government, and legislators. The walk is non-partisan, supporting, as Laird has written, “no political agenda save to restore the inalienable and Constitutional rights of human beings and the dominion of human citizens over corporations.” Laird and Robin spent the week before the walk going over logistics with MTA steering committee members at Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County, plotting the best route, and making plans to connect with supporters along the way. Their first day on the road took them over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito—look for pictures soon on their website, www.lairdandrobin.org—we will also be updating you online at our special March of the Monahan Brothers pages. Read moreGeneralCitizens United v. FECBuilding a Democracy MovementCaliforniaColoradoDistrict of ColumbiaIllinoisIndianaIowaKentuckyNebraskaNevadaTennesseeVirginiaWest VirginiaLocal actions on January 21st: First Anniversary of Citizens United Decision

The only way to fight organized money is with organized people!

GET READY TO TAKE A STAND! http://movetoamend.org/

Citizens Are Uniting Against the Citizens United DecisionOrganize Now In Your State For Demonstrations on Friday, January 21st, 2011

This is the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court terrible decision in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission.

Background: Corporate America is raking in more profits than ever before. They are using those dollars to weaken the safety net that protects We The People and to effectively silence us. The new Congress will be stacked with members who owe their allegiance to the vastly wealthy corporations that funded their campaigns.

Read moreAnniversary of Citizens UnitedGeneralCitizens United v. FECStop BP’s Corporate Abuse From: MovetoAmend.org & Change.org What's happening: No matter the issue, you can be certain that giant corporations are abusing our democracy for their own gain. The result? ‘We the people’ are in deep water when it comes to protecting ourselves and our country from corporate harms.

There’s no better example of corporate abuse than BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, and they haven’t even started spending ‘big money’ on candidate campaigns yet. Rest assured, that will happen when, and if, Congress gets serious about plugging the holes in the regulatory process, and passing legislation to prevent more disasters like this one. The oil boys will land like a sledgehammer on any candidate calling for regulation -- or an end to offshore drilling -- as they exploit the Supreme Court’s recent Citizens United decision, which allows unlimited campaign spending by corporations.

Additional Information: Chris Hedges is Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist, a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City, and the author of nine books, including “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle” (2009), “I Don’t Believe in Atheists” (2008) and the best-selling “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America” (2008). His book “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning” (2003) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction.

Read moreGeneralUnderstanding the CorporationJURMAIN: Problem and Solution Wed, 08/11/2010 Rick Jurmain On Wednesday, August 11th, local entrepreneur and inventor Rick Jurmain, who, with his wife and partner, Mary, has committed his business to social responsibility, spoke at the kickoff meeting of the northwest Wisconsin chapter of Move to Amend. His remarks are below.

Problem and Solution, by Rick Jurmain

Good evening and welcome. Thank you for coming tonight.

And thanks very much to Infinitea Tea House for their hospitality in hosting this event. I encourage all of you to have a cup of tea or other drinks. They also have salads and a selection of baked goods.

http://movetoamend.org/Read moreAmending the ConstitutionBuilding a Democracy MovementWisconsinDIXON: What If BP Were A Human Being? Wed, 05/05/2010 Bruce A. Dixon Black Agenda Report The third largest oil company in the world, BP was born in 1909 as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, and was partly owned by the British government. Its headquarters offices are in the UK.. So if it were a flesh and blood person, it would be far and away the wealthiest person on earth, and a nominal British subject. Assuming that our imaginary human BP got into the oil business at the youthful age of say, 20, and stayed at it for just over a century, BP the human being would be closing in on his 121st birthday. Damned few of us will see triple digits, and none of us that reach even our 60s and 70s retain the level of energy, or often of interest that we possessed only a couple decades before.

Additional Information: Bruce Dixon is the Managing Editor of the Black Agenda Report and a member of the Steering Committee of MovetoAmend.org

Read moreGeneralAlabamaUnderstanding the CorporationFloridaLouisianaMississippiVIDEO: We the Corporations? Life & Law in the U.S.A. after Citizens United v. FEC Fri, 04/16/2010 Liberty Tree Foundation

"We the Corporations?" Life & Law in the U.S.A. after Citizens United v. FEC was a one-day conference addressing that historic decision, and featuring reactions to it from some of the nation's leading democracy campaigners and experts on the doctrine of corporate constitutional rights.Additional Information:

•Hosted by the UW-Madison National Lawyers Guild and the Liberty Tree Foundation

•Sponsored by the American Constitution Society, Center for Media and Democracy, and Wisconsin Democracy Campaign•Cosponsored by the A.E. Havens Center for the Study of Social Structure and Social Change, UW-Madison Legal Studies Association, Madison Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, Student Progressive Dane, and the Student Labor Action Coalition.Read moreGeneralAmending the ConstitutionCitizens United v. FECBuilding a Democracy MovementWisconsinOrganizing ResourcesNot All Responses to Citizens United Are the Same Mon, 12/13/2010 NOT ALL RESPONSES TO CITIZENS UNTED V. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION ARE THE SAMEKnow the differences. Support the one(s) that makes sense to you.

Document: Not_all_responses_to_citizens_united_are_the_same.pdfRead moreGeneralCitizens United v. FECOrganize Your Town to Pass a Resolution to Legalize Democracy and Abolish Corporate Personhood Wed, 09/01/2010 Click here for a sample resolution that can be adopted by your town, city, county or state to support an Amendment abolishing corporate personhood. A print version (.pdf) is available to download below.

Click here for tips on passing a resolution from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

More resources can be found on our Get Involved page, here.

Document: MTA-Resolution.pdfGeneralAmending the ConstitutionIllinoisMove to Amend Petition: Help Grow the Groundswell! If you're tabling, demonstrating, or hosting an event, you can sign people on to the Move to Amend call for action by downloading and printing our petition.

Document: MTA-Petition.pdfRead moreGeneralBuilding a Democracy MovementWhat Would it Mean to End Corporate Rule? Corporations have gained the legal status of persons, accumulated rights, and now tell the government what to do. Ending corporate personhood and the legal fiction that money is speech is the first step in giving democratic government the legal ability to take a number of actions that are currently "beyond our authority.

Document: MTA-WhatCouldChange.pdfRead moreGeneralBuilding a Democracy MovementDon't see your state? Contact us to get your state involved

Areas of FocusAmending the Constitution Anniversary of Citizens United Building a Democracy Movement Citizens United v. FEC Understanding the Corporation Steering Committee•Independent Progressive Politics Network"At the top of the social pyramid, the corporate-dominated political parties are... •Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic RevolutionLiberty Tree is uniquely committed to building a new democracy movement for the U.S.... •Democracy UnlimitedDemocracy Unlimited educates citizens about the illegitimate seizure of our... •Program on Corporations Law and DemocracyPOCLAD works with people experienced in stopping corporate harms who want to rethink... •American Friends Service Committee - NE OhioThe Northeast Ohio office of AFSC was founded by local Quaker John Looney in 1971.... •National Lawyers GuildThe National Lawyers Guild is an association dedicated to the need for basic change... •Women's International League for Peace and FreedomThe Women's International League for Peace and Freedom was founded in 1915 during... [more]

Key Partners•A New Way ForwardA New Way Forward is a public platform to transform politics and the economy for the... •After Downing StreetAfter Downing Street is a nonpartisan coalition of over 200 veterans groups, peace... •Family Farm DefendersOur mission is to create a farmer-controlled and consumer-oriented food and fiber... •Velvet RevolutionVelvetRevolution.us ("VR") is a network of more than 120 progressive organizations... •Backbone CampaignThe Backbone Campaign is a grassroots effort to embolden citizens and elected... [more]

Endorsers•Berkeley Fellowship of Universalist Unitarians' Social Justice Committee•Montgomery County Progressive Alliance•South West Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice•Justice Through Music•Network for Environmental & Economic Responsibility of United Church of Christ[more]

Organizational EndorsementsIf your organization, business, union, faith community, or local governmental organization would like to sign on as a supporter of this effort, please let us know.